1.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind

2.
Rugby union
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Rugby union, known in some parts of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using a ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents, there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place four years with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are major annual competitions. The origin of football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823. Although the evidence for the story is doubtful, it was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895, despite the doubtful evidence, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after Webb Ellis. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with pupils from Rugby. Other important events include the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, despite the sports full name of rugby union, it is known simply as rugby throughout most of the world. The first rugby football international was played on 27 March 1871 between Scotland and England, by 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 is also the year of the first rugby tournament, the Melrose Sevens. During the early history of union, a time before commercial air travel. The first two notable tours both took place in 1888—the British Isles team touring New Zealand and Australia, followed by the New Zealand team touring Europe, All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics had expected. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in, the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event, in 1905 France played England in its first international match

3.
Currie Cup
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For the cricket competition originally known as the Currie Cup, see Sunfoil Series. Although it is the domestic competition, South African teams also compete in the international Super Rugby competition. Steeped in history and tradition, the Currie Cup dates back to 1891, the tournament is regarded as the cornerstone of South Africas rugby heritage, and the coveted gold trophy remains the most prestigious prize in South African domestic rugby. The Currie Cup is one of the oldest rugby competitions, with the first games played in 1889, the original participating unions were Western Province, Griqualand West, Transvaal and Eastern Province. The first tournament was held in Kimberley and was won by Western Province, for a prize they received a silver cup donated by the South African Rugby Board, now displayed at the SA Rugby Museum in Cape Town. The story of how the Currie Cup came to be comes from the first overseas team to tour South Africa in 1891, The British Isles. Among the bags, boots and balls was a cup given to them by Sir Donald Currie, owner of Union-Castle Lines. They then handed the trophy over to the South African rugby board, the inaugural Currie Cup tournament was thus held in 1892 with Western Province earning the honour of holding it aloft as the first official winners. The competition missed a few here and there for reasons such as war and the like. Western Province dominated the early years, and by 1920 the team from Cape Town had already secured the trophy 10 times. Only Griqualand West could halt the rampant WP side and win the trophy in 1899 and 1911, in 1939 the trophy returned to Johannesburg for only the second time after Transvaal defeated Western Province in Cape Town. This was the first time WP had lost a final at their home ground Newlands, at the turn of the decade South African rugby supporters were treated to two of the most memorable Currie Cup finals. The following year the Blue Bulls slipped up, though, and Natal sneaked home 18-12, the 1990s saw further improvement by Natal and the rise of Francois Pienaar’s Transvaal. In 2006 the trophy was shared by the Free State Cheetahs, the current Currie Cup format sees the competition split into two divisions. The six franchise unions will play in the Premier Division, along with two qualifiers, teams can either qualify by finishing in the top six the previous season or via a qualification tournament. The six teams that fail to qualify for the Premier Division from the tournament will play in the First Division. The qualification competition will see all teams play each other once, in the round-robin phase of the Premier Division, the eight teams are divided into two sections. Teams will play the teams in their section in a double round-robin format, plus a single round of matches against the teams in the other section

4.
Western Province (rugby team)
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DHL Western Province is a South African rugby union team, based in Newlands, Cape Town, that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournaments. Founded in 1883, the team has won titles, a record of 34 Currie Cup titles including the inaugural competition, the Vodacom Cup, the Absa Nite Series. The club has the most supporters of any Currie Cup team, the Club is nicknamed Die Streeptruie in reference to their legendary blue and white hooped jerseys. These Striped Jerseys were the colours of Malmesbury Rugby Football Club and they are also known simply as Province by all South African rugby lovers, while Afrikaans-speaking supporters also refer to the team by its abbreviation, W. P. Western Province were the 2012 Vodacom Cup Champions, having defeated the Griquas in 2012 by 20 points to 18 and they also are the 2014 Currie cup champions, having defeated the Lions 19–16 in the final. In 2010 province again did a victory over all of New Zealands five super unions. Province has also beaten the Wallabies 17–6 in an encounter in 1963. The only two teams to have beaten overseas countries as well as teams are yet again the Blue Bulls. Province was literally unstoppable by any opposition in the 1980s except for Northern Transvaal. Since 1983 Western Province has been sponsored by Adidas, in 2013 this will mark the 30th Anniversary of the sponsorship, the maroon jersey along with the centenary jersey as well as the original Stormers orange tops are the three most sought after Province and or Stormers tops. Team sponsor DHL has officially renewed their sponsorship with Western Province until 2016, Western Province currently combines with Boland Cavaliers to compete as the DHL Stormers in the Super Rugby competition. The club was established in 1883, the club claimed their first Currie Cup title in 1889, they repeated this success just three years later, winning the title again in 1892. Western Province continued to dominate the Currie Cup throughout the 1890s and this success continued into the early 1900s, as they won in 1904,1906 and 1908. The competition still being contested irregularly at this stage, was won by the Western Province in 1914. They won a seven times over the next two decades – four times in the 1920s and again three times in the 1930s, sharing two with Border. When the first Currie Cup championship was introduced in 1939, Western Province featured in the final, after losing the final in 1946 to Northern Transvaal, Western Province won their first final in 1947. The Currie Cup became a competition in 1969 and Western Province made it to the final that year. The team had to wait another seven seasons before making another final appearance, three years later they won the Currie Cup, sharing with Northern Transvaal at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town

5.
SWD Eagles
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The South Western Districts Eagles are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournament. They represent the Southern Cape and play out of Outeniqua Park in George, the South Western Districts Rugby Football Union was established in 1899. Initially, home matches were held in Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn and George, but in 1996 and they have never won the Currie Cup, but they did win the Bankfin Cup in 2002 and the Currie Cup First Division in 2007. They also reached the semi-finals of the Currie Cup in their season in 1999 under Heyneke Meyer. The SWDRFU also hosted the South Africa Sevens leg of the IRB Sevens World Series for several seasons at Outeniqua Park, in 2012, they also launched the 7s Premier League tournament in 2012 held at the same venue. The following players are contracted to the SWD Eagles for 2017, Official site sport. iafrica. com profile

6.
Sharks (Currie Cup)
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The Sharks are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The Sharks home stadium is Kings Park and they draw most of their players from the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The Sharks are the current representative team of the Natal Rugby Union, the team is the fourth most successful provincial union in the country having won the Currie Cup title seven times. Natal won its first Currie Cup competition until 1990, the year the union celebrated its centenary anniversary. Since then the Sharks have won the Currie Cup in 1992,1995,1996,2008,2010, for most of their history team was known simply as Natal, with a nickname of The Banana Boys until the mid-1990s when they were re-branded as the Sharks. The Sharks team that plays in the Super Rugby competition is essentially the same team - they also play in Durban and draw their players from the KwaZulu-Natal area. The Natal Rugby Union, renamed the kwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union in 1999 was formed in 1890, but it took 66 years for the union to enjoy its first Currie Cup final. Natal didnt enjoy any success prior to the 1960s, although legendary coach Izak van Heerden did manage to fashion two unbeaten seasons in ’61 and ’63, when the Currie Cup competition wasn’t held. The 1956 final saw Natal up against Northern Transvaal and even though it was contested at Kingsmead in Durban, with so many Springbok test matches in the early 1960s, the Currie Cup was contested only four times in that decade. Natal failed to make an impression, despite being able to call on the likes of Springboks Ormond Taylor, what followed was a rare third-place finish in the Currie Cup in 1980, with Claassen receiving inspirational support from Welshman Roger Gardner and former Wallaby Mark Loane. The standout result was a 22-19 defeat of Northern Transvaal – Natal’s first win over Northerns at Loftus Versfeld in 41 years, Northern Transvaal went on to win the Currie Cup again that year, but Natal were the only side to get the better of them. During the 80s, Natal could call on players of the calibre of Gawie Visagie, Henry Coxwell, Rob Hankinson and Mort Mortassagne, the side made up for this in 1984 by qualifying for the Currie Cup final, despite plying their trade in the B-Section. That was after a stunning victory over Free State, thanks to two tries from Des McLean and one each from Derek la Marque and Claassen. The Banana Boys gave an account of themselves in the 1984 final. For much of the 1980s Natal were written off as a B-Section team punching above their weight and it wasn’t until the arrival of legendary coach Ian McIntosh from Zimbabwe and the return to the A-Section in 1987 that they started to lay the foundations for success in the 1990s. After arriving in 1986, McIntosh quickly made his mark in Durban and spent the late 1980s building a squad and recruiting players he felt would serve the greater good of Natal Rugby. Despite Natal’s great season, the men from Pretoria were heavily favoured to win, and with match-winning flyhalf Naas Botha at the helm, it was widely accepted that the Blue Bulls just had to show up to win. The victorious side was captained by scrumhalf Craig Jamieson, who led the team on a parade through central Durban later in the week

7.
Blue Bulls
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They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Gauteng province. When Vodacom became the major sponsor their name was also added. Previously the side was sponsored by ExxonMobil and known as the Mobil Blue Bulls and their main colour is blue and their emblem a bulls head and horns. The Blue Bulls Rugby Union also operates the Super Rugby team known simply as Bulls, the team as it is known today has its beginnings in 1938 when the then Northern Transvaal Rugby Union broke away from the Transvaal Rugby Football Union to gain status as an independent rugby union. The new team was named Northern Transvaal and donned light blue jerseys with a red Barberton Daisy emblem, however, in their very first match, they played in the red and gold hooped jerseys of the Pretoria Combined team that often locked horns with teams touring South Africa. With time running out Brewis, the first true Northerns legend, when the ball jumped back in field, De Kock noticed Johnny Lourens storming down at full pace and, realising the danger, kicked hastily at the ball but missed it completely. Lourens scooped it up to score the winning try, six members of the 1946 team would later become Springboks, Hannes Brewis, Fonnie du Toit, Jorrie Jordaan, Flip Geel, Fiks van der Merwe, Louis Strydom and Daan Retief. Retief initially played on the wing, but later became a Springbok loose forward and it was a great pity that the Springboks did not play sooner after World War II as many players could have achieved national colours had they been given the opportunity. They included centres, Hannes de Villiers and Attie Botha, as well as the lock Doerie van Deventer, the match was played at Newlands. In 1956 they played Natal at Kingsmead, the cricket ground in Durban in the final. Kings Park rugby stadium had not been built yet, the wind was almost gale force and during this exciting struggle the two fly-halves, Thys van Zyl and the later Springbok Keith Oxlee, kicked a lot. Five minutes before the final whistle flanker, Schalk van Dyk scored a try that allowed Northern Transvaal to win the match 9-8,1968 saw the start of a golden era for Northern Transvaal rugby. Under the coaching of Buurman van Zyl they played Transvaal in the final, many players went on to become Springboks. They were Willem Stapelberg, Alan Menter, Piet Uys, Mof Myburgh, Polla Fourie, Johan Spies, Frik du Preez and they defeated Western Province 28—13 in the subsequent seasons final. This was the match in which South Africas player of the century, Frik du Preez, dropped, scored and placed, according to his friend and teammate, Springbok front ranker. They faced Griqualand West in the 1970 final, with Griqualand West winning 11-9 thanks to two tries from winger Buddy Swarts, Buurman van Zyl described this as the single most disappointing occasion in his 14 seasons at Northerns. The 1971 team did not lose a game and was most unlucky to play to a draw against Transvaal in the final. The controversy which surrounded Transvaals equalising points - a try by prop Theo Sauerman - once again emphasized the necessity of objective referees for Currie Cup finals

8.
Free State Cheetahs
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The Free State Cheetahs, currently named the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Free State Rugby Union and are based at the 48,000 capacity Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, the Cheetahs have only won the Currie Cup 5 times. However, they have one of the most successful teams in recent history. Since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, they have been considered one of South Africas Big 5 provincial rugby Unions, the Cheetahs are a very well supported team across the Free State as well having large fan bases in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria. They are also known as the darlings of South African rugby, the Cheetahs average home crowds of approximately 17,000 in the Currie Cup when they play at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. Their biggest rivals are traditionally Western Province, however, in recent times the Blue Bulls have also become fierce rivals of the Cheetahs. The Orange Free State Rugby Union was established in 1895, but did not make it to their first Currie Cup final appearance until 1973, when they lost to Northern Transvaal 30-22 at Loftus Versfeld. Just two seasons later, the Orange Free State met Northern Transvaal again in the Currie Cup final, the following season, Orange Free State met the Western Province in the final, defeating them 33-16 in Bloemfontein, claiming their first Currie Cup championship. The next season, Orange Free State met Northern Transvaal in the Currie Cup final again, for the fourth successive time, Orange Free State were in the final again, and again with Northern Transvaal, who defeated them 13-9. They met Northern Transvaal in the 1981 season final, the Orange Free State/Free State Cheetahs made two final appearances in the 1990s, being runners-up to Transvaal and the Western Province in 1994 and 1997 respectively. In 2004, they were runners-up to the Blue Bulls in the final, however, the following season, the Free State defeated them in the final,29 points to 25. The Free State finished at the top of the table of the 2006 season, the Cheetahs hosted the final, which ended in a 28-all draw after 20 minutes of extra-time. In the 2007 season, the FS Cheetahs continued their great form, after beating the Blue Bulls in the semis at home, they won the Currie Cup for a third consecutive time by coming from behind to beat the Golden Lions by 20-18 in the final. In the 2016 season, they emerged undefeated in the Currie Cup, in addition to the Free State Cheetahs that play in the Currie Cup competition, a Free State XV also compete in the Vodacom Cup / Currie Cup qualification series on an annual basis. This team play their matches at the time as the Super Rugby season. While the Free State XVs matches are classified as first class matches by the South African Rugby Union, in previous seasons, an Emerging Cheetahs team also participated in first class compulsory friendly matches prior to the Currie Cup season

9.
Golden Lions
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The Golden Lions is a rugby team based in Johannesburg, South Africa who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup. The GLRU also operate a side in the Super Rugby competition, the Lions, prominent clubs involved in the process were Pirates, Wanderers, Pretoria, Potchefstroom and Kaffrarians. The first elected president was Bill Taylor, transvaal’s first match was against Griquas in Kimberley on 31 August 1889. The original colours used by Transvaal were dark blue and white jerseys, blue shorts and it is unsure when the union decided to switch over to a white jersey with a red hoop with black shorts and socks. These colours are still in use today and it is also from these colours that the teams’ nickname, Rooibontes came from. The original union encompassed a bigger catchment area than it does currently. Unions that gained independence from Transvaal are Western Transvaal in 1920, Northern Transvaal in 1938), robert Owen Loftus Versfeld, after which the stadium in Pretoria is named, was a lifetime member of the Transvaal Rugby Football Union. According to a Lions tale –120 years of the red and white, the GLRU competes in the Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions under the sponsorship name of Xerox Golden Lions. The GLRU serves as the main union for the Lions, in Super Rugby, which also encompass the Pumas. The Golden Lions and Lions share the home stadium, Ellis Park. In the 1980s the union ran into financial trouble, mostly as a result of redeveloping Ellis Park. Transvaal supporters nearly didn’t have a union to support anymore as at one stage the most likely outcome was that the union would disband, in 1984 the union had R37 million of debts to repay, which forced Volkskas Bank to carry the union for a period. This debt mainly came from the union redeveloping the old Ellis Park into a modern 80, the union started out with R1 million of its own money, and intended to raise another R12 million through the sales of suites and life memberships. However, due to the team, the union had a hard time to sell these ideas to businessmen. In March 1984 Volkskas took over the management of Ellis Park, by August the union was told to repay debts of more than R40 million by 4 September. According to Louis Luyt in his autobiography, Walking Proud, the union was left with interest amounting to R20,000 per day, through the business acumen of Dr Luyt, the union was able to become financially stable once again. Thus the rugby union had no representation on the board, the rugby union would however be contractually obliged to play all future matches at the venue, and would have first right over the use of Ellis Park. However, 20% of all gate receipts generated would be paid over to EPSI, however, Volkskas was not fond of this idea, and eventually took complete control over the stadium as a new company called Ellis Park Stadium Pty Ltd

10.
Griquas (rugby)
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Griquas are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. Their home ground is Griqua Park in Kimberley and they draw their players mostly from Northern Cape Province and they have won the Currie Cup three times – in 1899,1911 and 1970 – and the Vodacom Cup a joint-record five times. The rugby team was established in 1886 in the former British colony of Griqualand West, the Currie Cup became South Africas domestic prize, and Griqualand West first won it in 1899. Griqualand West subsequently won the Currie Cup in 1911, after the introduction of official annual championships in 1969, Griqualand West won the final the next season, defeating Northern Transvaal 11–9 to claim their third title. Since then, Griquas have not won the Currie Cup, the majority of Griquas supporters hail from the Northern Cape province of South Africa, most notably in and around Kimberley where the team plays their home games. Their tradition rivals are Western Province, a rivalry that stems back to the earliest days of the Currie Cup when Griqualand West were a dominant force in South African rugby. Since the 1970s, a rivalry has also developed with neighbours the Free State Cheetahs in what has become known as the central derby. Griquas are nicknamed the Peacock Blues, the following players are contracted to Griquas for 2017, Official website

11.
Pumas (rugby team)
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The Pumas are a South African rugby union team that competes in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup and the Northern Section of the Vodacom Cup. The team draws their players from Mpumalanga Province and plays at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, the Pumas are a well supported team throughout Mpumalanga Province, with large fan bases located in Witbank, Middelburg, Ermelo and Nelspruit. The Pumas average crowds of 13,000 at home Currie Cup matches, formed in 1969 as South Eastern Transvaal, the Pumas are one of the younger unions in the country. The team has never won the Currie Cup, in 2006, they were coached jointly by Chris Grobler and Danie Gerber, but failed to win any of their 14 matches, finishing last on the log. They won the Currie Cup First Division in 2005 and 2009, for their 2010 Currie Cup campaign, the Pumas appointed the seasoned Jimmy Stonehouse as coach. Though considered the underdogs of the Currie Cup competition, on 27 August 2010 the Pumas beat current champions the Blue Bulls 22–21 at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. The teams major tournament wins include the Currie Cup First Division in 2005,2009 and 2013, the following players are contracted to the Pumas for 2017, Official Website Official Facebook page Pumas statistics on supersport. com